Class & Workshop Schedule

Registration

Some workshops have limited space, and require registration on a "first
come, first served" basis. If you are interested in participating
in any of these workshops, be sure to first register
for SOMA Camp, then click the appropriate link to register for the
workshop.

Prerequisites

Some classes have prerequisites--please check these before signing up.

Schedule

This is a tentative schedule. Classes, times, and instructors
may change without notice. We will email the full schedule with exact
times, locations, and instructors to registered campers before camp begins.

Identifying Trees and the Mushrooms commonly Associated to themclass info

As you begin your journey foraging for mushrooms it’s helpful to learn where you are most likely to find them. Trees create much of the habitat for the many delectable edible, medicinal and dye mushrooms found in Northern California. Learn how to identify the common trees that make up the beautiful forests in our region and the common fungi that partner with them. Intended for beginners, but all are welcome.

The Oregon coast summer/fall mushroom season is a wonderful me to travel to OR to hike, camp and forage for huckleberries and fungi. This presentation will give a pictorial overview of the Oregon Dunes unique habitat and the many species of mushrooms, plants, and animals found there.

We will be making paper from a variety of polypores which will give us a beautiful array of earthy colors. We will also use some dye mushrooms and other fungi with abaca. An assortment of natural inclusions will be provided.

This class will cover the process of mordanting cellulose fabrics (cotton, linen, bamboo, rayon) for natural dyeing or botanical printing. Students enrolled in Monique’s Eco Printing class on Sunday will be given priority enrollment, and are invited to bring any fabrics they have purchased (and scoured) for that class to be mordanted. We will provide and also mordant the silk scarves to be used in Monique’s Eco Printing class. Limit 12 students.

An inside view of commercial specialty mushroom cultivation at Gourmet Mushrooms, Inc in Sebastopol CA and Scottville MI. Plus, a brief overview of current production and demand of mushrooms in domestic and global markets.

Shibori is an ancient Japanese resist dyeing technique, utilizing various methods of tying, pleating, and clamping fabric to create different surface design patterns. In this class you will learn to enhance your dyeing with the dyer's puffball using shibori techniques creating two beautiful silk scarves. All materials and tools, including 2 silk scarves 22”x22” will be provided.

If you still get frustrated when you cannot find a picture of your unknown mushroom then take this course and learn how to use dichotomous keys. The keys will unleash the full power of “Mushrooms Demystified”. This book is REQUIRED to learn from this class, which will be a hands-on learning activity to ID mushrooms. It includes how to get started with any fungus, what terminology to learn and tips for success.

This workshop teaches simple home techniques for the capture, domestication, and cultivation of wild mushrooms, in particular those that were collected in the Saturday morning foray with Ken Litchfield and Joe Lampe and other mushrooms that SOMA Campers may have brought in.

Natural History of a Perplexing Parasite and Purported Panacea Summary In East Asia the healing power of Cordyceps is in highest esteem, making Yartsa gunbu (Ophiocordyceps sinensis) the worldâ€™s most precious fungus at over $30,000 per pound, and accounting for 40% of rural income in Tibet. Every year in spring, Tibetans move to the grasslands to collect this tiny, elusive fungus that grows on the larva of ghost moths. Consequently, sustainability is of great concern, but new research helps explaining its apparent resilience of this inter-kingdom jumper. Meanwhile much of Western main stream medicine is not even aware of Cordyceps. Likewise, there are hundreds of different Cordyceps species in the Americas and only in recent years they are receiving deserved attention. The neo-tropics are amazingly rich in bizarre Cordyceps species and Daniel, based on a dozen Mushroaming trips to South America, will introduce the most common and also some rare species, including some Cordyceps, not known to science yet.

This half-day workshop is designed for those who would like to learn how to capture the beauty of mushrooms in watercolor. It is especially intended for beginners, but more experienced artists are also encouraged to attend this community paint-in. We will cover all the basics of watercolor painting, including papers, paints, basic techniques, lighting, staging your subject etc. All will paint at least one mushroom from live material during the class. Those who have paints and brushes are encouraged to bring them. We will provide paper, palettes, a limited selection of paints and brushes and other materials (pencils, erasers etc). Watercolor painting will give you new ways to view and observe mushrooms. Even those who claim that they cant draw a stick-figure will be surprised at what they can really do. (Limited to 12 people.

Students will learn techniques for block printing on fabric using mordants to create vibrant color variations in the dye bath. Each student will create a hand carved stamp and leave the class with a personalized mushroom-dyed fabric sample dyed in the color of their choosing.

We will discuss the basics of creating color from commonly found fungi. Topics include mordants, how to ID dye fungi, and dye bath preparation. Participants will dye fiber samples and a silk handkerchief to take home.

We know that mushrooms benefit your health. There will be a brief review of a handful of mushrooms and their potential health benefits. The heart of this talk will reveal how some doctors are using mushrooms in their practice to boost health and possibly longevity. Which ones are they choosing and why?

The shoulders we stand on - A short foray into the history of mycology in Californiaclass info

A short foray into the history of mycology in California: the most important players and their work and influence. We'll look at some of the mushroom names we use, and see who gave these names. And we'll see what we can do for the future as well.

During this presentation I would give general, introductory information about mycoremediation, which is the use of fungi to degrade or isolate contaminants in the environment. Contaminants where mycoremediation is applicable include oil, heavy metals, endocrine disrupting chemicals, dye effluent, cigarette butts, radiation and bacteria. Fungi are able to break down chemicals by either extracellular oxidation or intracellular initial attack. Fungi have specialized enzymes for decomposition. These enzymes are not substrate specific, so are useful in many applications. Some examples that I would discuss include growing Pleurotus ostreatus for oil remediation and Trametes versicolor use in treating endocrine disrupting chemicals. I would present with power point slides and hand outs.

Mike Wood, Dr. Brian Perry and Darvin DeShazer lead an all-day microscope and ID workshop. Scopes and everything (slides, chemicals, etc.) needed for the day.are provided. There will be one scope setup to project the image to a screen or large monitor. This will allow the entire class to see the procedures used in microscopy for fungal identification.

Latest techniques for the experienced eco-printer as well as beginneron how to coax plants and flowers to leave their color on fiber. Participants will be supplied 2 small silk scarves and are welcome to bring their own mordanted fiber for this workshop. List to be provided when you sign up.

Botanical printing workshop 2 - Sunday afternoon - new methods using natural dyes.Botanical printing workshop 1 required. Learn how to add color backgrounds in amazing new ways that will give your work depth and radiance.Participants will be supplied 2 small silk scarves and are welcome to bring their own mordanted fiber for this workshop. List to be provided when you sign up.

There will be a mordanting session at 10:00 Saturday morning. Mordant half of each
fabric in this list to experiment with in the workshop.

An Exploration of Mushroom and Lichen Dyes of Northern California (Pre-registration Online)class info

Whether you are just starting to explore mushroom dyeing or you have years of experience, this class will help you refine your mushroom and lichen dye practice; making the most with your precious dye resources. We will extract a full palette of regional mushroom and lichen dye colors, discussing ethical harvest, testing for color, and recipe development. Rainbows await!

At the 2001 SOMA Camp, our legendary mushroom dye maven and innovator Miriam C. Rice introduced her newest experimental work with her mushroom dye pigments: "Myco-Stix", a drawing tool similar to Conté crayon in appearance, but with a greater range of possible uses. Now at SOMA Camp 2018 we will continue to further explore Miriam's research by making our own "Myco-Stix", developing new techniques and uses for this exciting new fiber arts tool. In the "Making Miriam's Myco-Stix" workshop we will use beeswax, slate powder, and possibly other mushrooms for our binders, and using local California fungi, we will prepare fungal pigments to add to these binders making our "œMyco-Stix" for drawing on a variety of materials including paper and silk. All materials will be provided.

Truffle Cultivation of the West Coast (May be combined with Foray I)class info

May be combined with Foray I

Updated presentation from last year - the trials and tribulations of truffle cultivation. How to cultivate truffles, and the needs for setting up an orchard, the formula to get truffles to fruit on the roots of your trees.

The indigenous Mazatec people of Southern Mexico are renowned for their shamanism, which is inspired in part by various Psilocybe mushroom species, Salvia divinorum, and home-grown tobacco. Kat will describe the role of psilocybin mushrooms in this ancient, animistic tradition of spirit and healing. She'll share slides and stories from her decades of ongoing fieldwork with a Mazatec clan.

With a few simple steps, you can make your own artist ink with locally foraged mushrooms. This water soluble ink can be used in drawing and painting. We will work with three varieties of mushrooms, each yielding a different hue. Participants will leave with a one ounce bottle of ink.

Mandalas are a spiritual and ritual symbol traditionally created within Hindu and Buddhist Traditions. They can represent various manifestations of the cosmos and are often used as a spiritual teaching tool and an aid to meditation and trance induction. Come and help build the beauty of our sacred SOMA Camp space by creating a mushroom mandala. Materials from the ID tables and surrounding nature of SOMA camp will help aid the artistic experience.

Learn to grow mushrooms on logs! We will practice log cultivation by inoculating logs with shiitake plugs. Skills learned in this class will aid participants in cultivating a variety of medicinal and edible mushrooms. Students will be able to take home their own shiitake log.

While it's easy to focus on our fungal friends when out in the woods, there are many other interesting species growing. Come learn about our local edible and medicinal plants that you may be walking by on your search for that perfect mushroom.

The presentation will be an update on the North American Clinical Trial using Intravenous Silibinin and our overseas efforts where the study drug is unavailable. Information on Chinese amatoxin species and cases will be shared along with a discussion of the general science of amatoxin itself. Lots of great pictures and stories...

Monday, Jan 15 2018

This presentation reviews how we learn about which mushrooms are edible and which might harm us. We then explore some of the more common myths about toxic mushrooms, including recently indicted species such as angel wings, man-on-horseback, the neurological effects of morel gluttony, the inherent dangers of foraging and others.

There are amazing beneficial fungi that promote the healthiest roots of native and ornamental plants. Nearly all plants, especially trees, need this symbiotic relationship for superior growth. The seminar will explain what the relationship is (called mycorrhizal association), where in the roots it happens, how to promote it, how it increases yields and whether-or-not purchased inoculants are needed.

Gourmet Mushrooms Inc. has been a consistent and extremely generous donor to SOMA. This year Justin Reyes, the Director of Sales and Marketing for Mycopia Mushrooms, has even more generously offered to give us a tour of the Gourmet Mushrooms operation. A fun thing to do on your way out of Camp! Check out their website at www.mycopia.com for new and interesting information about mushrooms!